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Top Business Schools for Healthcare / Pharma / Biotech 2018

The healthcare, pharma, and biotech sectors are huge, and growing. Because these fields tend to be so complex, it takes a special type of manager to be able to navigate them. This is where an MBA in Healthcare comes in: it can help prepare students to deal with a range of issues in the healthcare, pharma, and biotech fields.

Indeed, for students working or hoping to work in the health fields, an MBA can prepare them for various functional roles – like marketing, business development, or strategy – at companies in the healthcare services, life sciences, pharma, and biotech industries. Focusing on healthcare electives in business school can also help MBA grads land internships and jobs at nonprofit organizations, or as consultants, investment bankers, and venture capitalists focused on healthcare.

Some business schools offer MBA specializations in the healthcare fields, while others allow MBA students to supplement their studies with a second healthcare-related degree, such as an MD or a Masters in Nursing.

BU offers a two-year, specialized Health Sector MBA (HSM) that leads to internships and jobs in the Boston area and beyond. About 23 percent of all of 2017 MBA grads landed jobs in the healthcare industry or related fields. BU's is one of a handful of MBA and dual-degree MBA programs accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Management Education (CAHME).

Students enrolling in UC Irvine’s MBA program can choose to pursue a certificate in Health Care Management and Policy, which will help them navigate the complex web of health businesses. The number of UC Irvine MBA grads going into the health fields has been increasing in recent years: of the class of 2017, some 15 percent went into the sector.

Although the school doesn’t offer an MBA specialization in Healthcare—or indeed, any formal specializations—it does offer a range of relevant electives, such as “Health Finance” and “Health Economics and Strategy.” The school placed 18 percent of its MBA class of 2017 in health-related roles, in firms like Medical Mutual, the Cleveland Clinic, and VA Hospitals, among others.

Located in what is known as "The Healthcare City" - Rutgers is close to big pharma companies like Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb, as well as several large hospitals. Rutgers' Pharmaceutical Management MBA concentration and the Lerner Center—which publishes relevant research and puts on events—further strengthen the school's links to the biopharmaceutical industry. Thirty-five percent of the class of 2016 went into the healthcare or pharma industries, one of the highest rates of any school that FIND MBA surveyed.

The percentage of IMD MBAs going into pharmaceuticals has reached double digits in recent years, with many alum going to work for Swiss pharma giants like Novartis and Roche. Nineteen percent of the 2016 MBA class got jobs in this sector.

UNC students can choose to pursue the school’s MBA concentration in Healthcare, which covers topics like Healthcare Analytics, Healthcare Marketing, and Global Healthcare. Fifteen percent of Kenan-Flagler’s full-time MBA class of 2017 went into the Healthcare field. The school’s MBA grads regularly go into firms like CIGNA and Johnson & Johnson.

The school reports that 15 percent of its MBA grads go into healthcare or pharma roles. Recruiters have included pharmaceutical companies like Johnson & Johnson and GlaxoSmithKline. The school also puts on a range of healthcare-themed executive education courses.

Nine percent of Manchester’s MBA class of 2016 went into the healthcare/biotech/pharma sectors, the highest of any other school in the UK surveyed by FIND MBA. Healthcare-minded graduates have ended up in firms like Johnson & Johnson, Eli Lilly, and GlaxoSmithKline. The school also offers an MSc in International Healthcare Leadership.

Generally, around 15 to 20 percent of St. Gallen MBAs go into the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries after graduation. Novartis recruits heavily from the school. The school hosts a “Center for Healthcare,” which produces relevant research and puts on healthcare-related executive education programs.

Music isn't Nashville's biggest industry; health care is. Vanderbilt offers a specialized Health Care MBA that leverages close ties to Vanderbilt's Medical Center and proximity to hundreds of local healthcare companies, including HCA. The school also offers various other management programs in healthcare, including a joint MD/MBA and the one-year Master of Management in Health Care. Sixteen percent of Owen’s MBA class of 2017 went into the healthcare sector.